Building design and construction



Sept. 12, 1939. H. FLATO 2,172,838

BUILDING DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Filed July 17, 1937 I m INVENTOR. M0 102;

BY 247M147 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 12, 1939 'UNITED STATES BUILDING DESIGN'AND CONSTRUCTION Hans Flato, New York, N. Y.

Application July 17, 1937, Serial No. 154,126

6 Claims.

My invention relates to building design and construction, and particularly to an offset arrangement of successive stories or groups of stories of a building to avoid the customary perpendicular or pyramidal appearance and to give an impression of unbalance while being in fact structurally sound and secure.

In building construction heretofore it has been the practice to place storys or units perpendicu- 10 larly one over the other or with pyramidal set backs as if the buildings were in fact supported by the brick or masonry with which its outer walls are faced. As a result the architectural effects obtainable by building outline have been limited and often stereotyped.

I have discovered that in the construction of buildings with steel or metal framework this stereotyped outer design is wholly unnecessary, and that buildings of apparently unbalanced and irregular design may be constructed to great advantage both in appearance and in utility. Such buildings may consist of a series of stories or groups of stories of substantially the same floor area, offset with respect to one another,

providing overhangs as well as-terracing, and giving the effect of aleaning tower;- or the offsetting of certainstories on one side of the centre line of the building may be combined with offsetting of other stories on the other side 'of the same line, providing. novel and attractive outlines and serving a variety of uses; "I'heconstruction of such buildings, whether from the impression of unbalance or from a harmony of balancing offsets, creates a striking appearance and opens up a field for design" which I believeto be novel and highly useful.

An essential featureof the framework :in such buildings is a balanced'tower or lattice construction wherein the structural members sup- 40- porting the several floors or stories are rigidly secured or trussed together so that the offsets on one side of the tower or lattice are substantially balanced by those on the opposite side thereof, so that the building is in fact well balanced on its foundation and structurally safe and secure.

My invention may be exemplified in many forms. The accompanying drawing is merely by way of illustration of a number of types of building design that my invention makes available.

The figures are schematic elevations of buildings designed according to my invention.

In Figure 1, for example, I have illustrated a simple form of construction'in which each story or unit of stories is of set un f ly with respect to the story or unit of stories below. The resulting building has the appearance of unbalance, like a leaning tower; yet it is structurally sound and safe by reason of the balanced support given by the interior framework or lattice of structural 5 steel illustrated in dotted lines. In this figure, the horizontal fioor or story supporting members are illustrated at 4, 4, 4, the tower or lattice construction is illustrated by dotted lines 55, 66 with side bracing members I and 8, 8, 8 to effect 10 a substantial balance of the weight of the building about the supporting element 55, 6+5. It will be understood that themembers 4, 4 are secured to the vertical framework 5, 6 in the usual manner and that the side braces I, 8 may 15 be in the form of diagonal members, as illustrated, or in some cases may be dispensed with entirely or replaced by web or bracket connections on the members between the vertical or horizontal members, depending on the load to 20 be balanced or supported.

In Fig. 2, I have illustrated a modification wherein the portion A of the building, corresponding generally to the type of construction illustrated in Fig. 1, is modified by combination 25 with portions B and C, respectively, above and below portion A, to give further novelty and artistic effect to the whole. Here again the central supporting framework is illustrated at 55, 66, and it will be observed that the parts 30 9 and IU of portion B and the parts II and I2 of portion C are both of them substantially in balance about the central support. Such harmony of balances and correctly proportioned counterweights may accordingly be employed with 35 hitherto unused combinations of terracing and overhangs to effect a cantilever support for the respective overhanging stories and to achieve results in appearance and utility that I believe are wholly novel in building construction. 4o

' Fig. 3 illustrates a further modification of the same arrangement, embodying the central framework 5-5, 6-6 and the successive horizontal story supporting members 4, 4, 4, some of said members being offset to form terraces as at I5 .20 (which may or may not be symmetrical, as desired) others of said members being ofiset to form overhangs as at l6 (which may or may not be symmetrical) and still others of said members being offset as at IT, in the manner 50 illustrated in Fig. l, the aggregate of the offsets on one side of the vertical central framework being in general balance with the aggregate of the ofisets on the other side thereof.

In Fig. 41, I have shown another form of my 5 invention in which portion A generally corresponds to that shown in Fig. 1, portion D is composed of two similar sections standing side by side and connected by a rounded conformation at these lower stories, and portion E is a base appropriate for stores on an arcade at the street level running parallel to the longer ground dimension of the building. A tank or similar spherical member l3 may be superimposed on portion A and a section l4 may be inserted between the parts of portion D as illustrated.

These sections should preferably be of contrast:

ing appearance but may be combined structurally with the adjoining parts of portions A-and 'D.

In all of these forms of building construction the whole, or its constituent parts, are characterized by the offsetting of successive stories or groups of stories to produce the appearance of unbalance while maintaining, through a proper central support and side bracing, a safe balance and support for the building as a whole and each of its overhanging parts.

The foregoing description and accompanying drawing are simply illustrative of certain forms of my invention and are not intended as limiting my invention, but on the contrary as suggesting many equivalent or modified forms in which my invention, as defined in the appended claims, may be employed.

I claim: 7

1; In building construction, the combination of stories or groups of stories, and a centrally disposed vertical framework extending substantially from the bottom to the top of the building, with at least a portion of the building having a plurality of stories or groups of stories so arranged that each story or story group extends from one side to the other of the framework to' form a terrace and overhang with respect to an adjacent story or story group, said plurality of stories or groups of stories'being in braced-supported relation to said framework and being so arranged that the composite full outline of the stories gives the optical illusion of unbalance while substan tial structural balance is maintained with respect to said vertical framework.

'2. In building construction, in combination, a centrally disposed vertical framework and horizontal story-supporting members secured thereto, with at least a portion of the building having a' plurality of story-supporting members so arranged that each of said plurality of members extends from one side to the other of said framework to form a terrace and an overhang with respect to an adjacent story-supporting member,

- the said plurality of members being so arranged as to give the optical illusion of unbalance to the composite full outline of the building while substantial structural balance with respect to said 0 framework is maintained.

3. In building construction, in combination, a

respect to said support,

centrally disposed vertical framework and horizontal story-supporting members secured thereto and defining stories of substantially the same dimensions, with at least a portion of the building having a plurality of story-supporting members so arranged that each of said plurality of members extends from one side to the other of said framework to form a terrace and overhang with respect to an adjacent supporting member, the said plurality of members being so arranged as to give the optical illusion of unbalance to the composite full outline of the building while substantial structural balance with respect to said framework is maintained.

4. In building construction, in combination, a centrally disposed vertical framework, horizontal story-supporting members secured thereto, with at least a portion of the building having a plurality of story-supporting members so arranged that each of said plurality of members extends from one side to the other of said framework to form a terrace and an overhang with respect to an adjacent story-supporting member, the said plurality of members being so arranged as to give the optical illusion of unbalance to the composite full outline of the building construction while substantial structural balance with respect to said framework is maintained, and side braces secured to said framework and members to provide cantilever support for said members.

5. In building construction, the combination of stories of substantially the same dimensions, a centrally disposed vertical framework extending through said stories substantially from the bottom to the top of the building, horizontal story-supporting members secured to said framework, and each extending from one side to the other of said framework to form a terrace and overhang with respect to an adjacent member, the said stories supported on said horizontal members being so arranged as to give the optical illusion of unbalance to the composite full outline of the building while substantial structural balance with respect to said vertical framework is maintained.

6. Building construction comprising stories arranged about a central vertically extending support with at least a portion of the building having-a plurality of stories or groups of stories so arranged that each story or story group extends from one side to the other of said support to form a terrace and overhang with respect to an adjacent story or story group, said plurality of stories or groups of stories being supported with respect to one another and being so arranged that the composite full outline of the stories gives the optical impression of unbalance while substantial structural balance is maintained with HANS FLA'IQ. 

